Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1887-04-20

y rIAlecAsrER, APRIL n 1851.
'A1As Usitea states Senator.

EE2u0 EioE1oe leBDlature lS engaged IN the
nsps work Of electipg United States
fn1os, end seems to be no nearer con.
1DpA than at the beginning Of its labors,
1gA Il stays In session all night long in
{ W unIoft = make choice. This duty of
zol,ng United States senator has be-
xme Ne most serious labor of our legisla.
tugos, and we need to have some other
1neaM devised to take the place Of this
ouo1ly way Of filing the chief legislative |
omber Of the nation. We observe that we
- not seem to get Q better chamber,
~ Ne arduous efforts Of these latter years,
- We had in the old days of Clay,
sWshster, Hayne, Calhoun, Benton and the
sHke. We do not think that the next
0eneeation viii feel any particular delight
- referring to the speeches and in recalling
gfho fame of the present United States
Fema&e. There is hardly q man in the
! body who would have been the equal of
- distinguished senator's who shed lustre
Snpon the body in the past, though its
] nsmbership was then 30 much smaller.
I We know that 1t is very natural to think
ftat the present Is not as good as the past,
and that the men Of to-day are inferior.
The virtues of the old timers shine out of
Z The dim past, while in the sunlight of the
present the worth of our sages seems un-
duly small; but yet it can hardly fail to be
/ true that the universal recognition of the
comparative littleness Of the men of the
Senate is founded on . just conception of
Aem.
There is NO good reason apparent why
/. they should be %. In the lszgeF body Of
3 to-day selected from rouf larger population,
1&ohe sevefe vxertion of our state legisla-
tures, there ought to be greater number
oe great men than ever. If they are not
!. there it can only be because they are not
ayailable or are not found by our present
tenn Of selection.
We suppose that there is something
Of both reasons responsible for the
fact. 1n these days when the smassing
Of wealth is the first aim Of youth, it re.
suits both that the man Of wealth has the
strongest hold on every sort Of preferment,
and that the wealth.seeking tide turns the
strong intellects Of the country away
from the paths of political preferment
{ that formerly were their attraction.
And 1t is fact, como whence it may,
that the state legislature of this day is not
I won't to search the state over for the fittest
man to represent it in the United States
Senate. It assemblies often simply to do
the bidding Of q candidate, or q clique,
that has manipulated the primary elections
70 secure the senatorship. Generally it be.
comes the battle. ground of candidates who
select themselves for the place, and claim
s It for no better reason than that they
want 1t. There 10 no idea of patriotism
entering into the selection, as there used to
b. There was time when man who
WAS not at to adorn the Senate would not
think of offering himself for it, because no
I ono would think Of voting for him. But
now there is never question of the
adornment of the Senate, but solely Of the
advancement Of self.
And 30 it happens that this great state
Of Pennsylvania, with many men in it who
are equal in ability to any Of her previous
senators, has for many years been repre-.
sented by men who could do her no honor,
and who have been unable even to speak
! Tor her on the Senate floor. And Pennsyl-
/: vania is not alone in this fix. 1t is the case
Of most of the states, in which the legisla.
tive choice is made with more ferment than
here, where the voice Of the boss generally
settles the choice in q summary way.
Florida frets now over Q successor to
Jones, who has represented her for
several years in the city Of Detroit.
Folks have been amusing themselves with
the righteousness Of the Florida's senator's
long session all alone in Detroit and
doubtless Jones Is crazy /; but we question
:. whether many Of the states would not be as
well OIL with innocently silly senators
located away from the capital and doing
!. them no harm, il they are doing them no
a 0Ond